Electronic remixing/composing made simple?

cj iwakura

I've been thinking of taking some tracks I know and making some remixes, just to get a start at something, but the program I was recommended(Reason) was a little staggering. I had no clue what to do with all those components.

Is there a good recommended program or medium for an absolute beginner at this thing, or should I just dive in and start messing with Reason?

Also, are external devices required, or can one generally manage with the in-device tools?

tardcore

Acid Pro

Seriously, it's amazingly simple and you can do so much with it.

metaghost

I'd suggest sticking with Reason, though I'm really not clear what you're trying to do.

If electronic composition is your goal, I find Reason to be lot more intuitive and satisfying than analogous programs. (Ableton, Acid Pro, Garageband, etc...)

It can be intimidating to deal with the rack interface at first, but the in-program tutorials are relatively straightforward, and they have a number of video tutorials on the Propellerhead website.

Of course, if your main intent is remixing, you're going to need some sort of multitrack editing suite. At which point Acid Pro might be the cheapest and easiest solution.

Regarding "externals devices": Are you just wanting to know if you need a MIDI keyboard? If so, the answer is no. I do most of my Reason composition with a mouse. Once you have a device set up, you just go to the arrangement window and use the pencil tool to "draw" notes/sample triggers.

tracertong

I found Ableton live 8 (download the free trial) to be by far the easiest UI to learn.

But, you want to learn _techniques_ that will be applicable in any program once you get past the UI. Things like reversing a sample (like an open to closed high hat sample), slowing down samples but keeping pitch, etc

Best of luck and try the free trials of various packages

useless4

If you are doing remixes then Live is what you want to do.

Reason is the exact wrong tool.

If you want to make original songs then Reason is the right tool and Live is wrong.

what you really want doesn't exist anymore : Mixman. That was perfect way to get your feet wet.

cj iwakura

I'd like to do original stuff eventually, but as said, remixing to start with. I'll give Live a shot, thanks.

ItsAGiant

Ejay...

Not serious about that.

But I agree, Reason is good.

useless4

Reason's great but it's for making music, not remixes. If you were really serious and had a copy of recycle and reason together you could do greatness, however it's not really designed in large part to import anything.

Fantasma

Most of the DJs I see in action use Virtual DJ, it is free for home use.

http://www.virtualdj.com/

Visti

I would say Ableton Live. It does things a lot differently than other DAWs, but it is amazingly powerful and some stuff learned will transfer. But it really depends on what you want to do.. I mean, even remixing is a broad topic.